Onboarding Success
“Onboarding” is often gets confused with a word “Induction”, when it comes to welcoming a new employee to a new workplace and co-workers. But Onboarding is different to Induction.
Induction is more about getting someone ready for their specific job and ensuring they have everything they need to perform their duties safely and at a maximum capacity. It stresses the attention to admin processes and safety rules and policies.
On the other hand, Onboarding is a deeper, richer and slower process. It provides newly hired employees with not just the information about their new workplace but also with the company vision and with an insight into what the future might hold. Onboarding constructs a powerful sense of engagement. It assures the connection between workers and the organization they work for.
Here are some top methods for Onboarding Success.
1. Give them the opportunity to look around
The most successful organisations are the ones where all department work as one, with plenty of intermingling. Give your new employees the opportunity to explore other departments – where staff is welcoming and informative rather than resentful. It will give your new employee an overview of what your company does and what opportunities lie ahead. It might also inspire your new employee to start a dialogue about anything from efficiency improvements to brand new revenue streams, and that is one of our top recommended methods to ensure Onboarding success.
2. Pair them up with an official work buddy
Most people would remember how they have been tapped on their shoulder and asked: “Excuse me, I’m new here. Would you mind helping me to do this or that?”. It is a part of office life and most people are happy to help. But imagine how much more productive it would be if a new employee had only 1 person to go to, who could answer any questions.
3. Ensure your technology functions well
Technology that doesn’t function well has become number 1 problem flagged by newly hired employees. You would need to realise that most of the time problems lie beyond just making sure that their username and password work. Make sure that they can login into the system and that they have an appropriate access to all the programs and applications. You would also need to ensure that their account is hooked up to scanners and printers and most importantly that they have a direct line to your IT support.
4. Have a formidable company intranet
Almost nothing can turn a great onboarding into a bad one that a stack of paperwork to fill out. It is sometimes makes new and newish employees to head straight out of the door. The truth is every new employee must provide their personal details such as: address, bank details, tax file numbers, police checks, superannuation details and other details. Most of this information can be captured when your employee goes through your induction hosted by “Induct For Work” online induction platform. But a list of go-to contacts for everything from pay enquiries to leave applications should be kept on your intranet together with a list of employee benefits available once the probation period is over. Your intranet is the perfect place to store it this information and as this information is received as a self-paced process, the acquisition of this information easier and therefore more memorable.
5. Manage managers
It is extremely important to keep an eye on your management as nothing can fire up or deflate a new employee faster than their direct supervisor. There is no point in creating a fun and collaborative environment for your workers if your managers are not managed. Of course, some managers can do an excellent job naturally, but all levels of management must be controlled and monitored. One of most important parts of onboarding is making your staff and management feel valued for their contributions. So, if there is a suggestion of an obstacle – be prepared to investigate the issue and then to take a decisive action if needed.
6. Schedule check in meetings
Most of the time the check in meeting is scheduled at the end of the first week in hope that the new employee is fully settled in. This meeting will rarely expose any internal or external issues that might bother your employee. It actually takes around a month for your new employees to properly settle into their new role, to get to know all team members and to master the technology. We would strongly advise you to schedule in another check in meeting at the end of the month. You will then able to discuss in detail any issues and concerns. You should also be able to receive any positive and negative feedback. And that is our 6th method to ensure Onboarding success.
If you are hiring an employee for the first time, click here to get some vital information from www.gov.uk site.
To start creating your own online inductions and to claim your Free Account – click here.
Send us any questions or great tips to share? – Contact us here.
Induct for Work – the only system you need to create and manage online inductions in UK.